Do These Iowa Coin Tosses Look Fair to You?
Many Americans were shocked to learn that Democrats, who have been lecturing Americans for years about the importance of fair and open elections, turned to coin tosses during Monday’s disastrous Iowa caucuses.
Video now percolating out of the state show how seemingly unfair some of these coin flips truly were.
The coin tosses themselves are mandated by an Iowa Democratic Party’s 2020 caucus guide as part of a way to solve any potential ties for delegates.
“In a case where two or more preference groups are tied for the same additional delegate,” the guide reads, “a coin toss shall determine which group is awarded the addition.”
There’s something to be said about a party priding itself as the voice of the masses turning to random coin flips to determine the future of our nation, but wait until you see how the deciding tosses are performed.
In one clip, a man is seen flipping the coin high in the air and then catching it. He carefully pulls it out of his hand and places it on his palm before rolling his fingers back over the coin. It’s unclear whether the coin was manipulated during this time.
The winner of this flip was Pete Buttigieg, the same candidate now in the middle of controversy over his ties to the firm behind an app causing so much chaos in Iowa.
Here’s your Iowa democracy in action – a coin toss to determine who gets the last delegate out of this #IowaCaucus precinct after Buttigieg and Klobuchar tied. Buttigieg won. pic.twitter.com/1s4zTE0u96
— Anthony Zurcher (@awzurcher) February 4, 2020
Not all coin tosses were performed by people apparently unfamiliar with the concept of coin flips.
Even though other deciding tosses were executed more smoothly, the transparency of the entire process is not likely to inspire unity in a fractured Democratic Party.
One flip briefly captured on camera was over within five seconds, but the only person seemingly around to verify the result was a man decked out in Buttigieg swag. The winner of this toss was, perhaps unsurprisingly, Pete Buttigieg.
The coin toss pic.twitter.com/qvJ8ZHlsVk
— John Pemble (@johnpemble) February 4, 2020
Not all Democratic coin tosses were performed under such shady conditions, however.
Some performing the flips did so with a crowd documenting the result. These same people appear to leave it all up to chance — letting the coins land on tables and floors with no outside manipulation.
WATCH: A tie in this #Iowacaucus precinct is broken with a coin toss.
Iowa Democratic Party rules dictate that in some circumstances a coin toss shall determine which candidate should win a delegate if 2 or more candidates are tied pic.twitter.com/5dLcI88xUD
— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) February 4, 2020
The democratic coin toss.
Caucus system wild cards. #IowaCaucus pic.twitter.com/UJ0nueY5T7— Heidi Hatch (@tvheidihatch) February 4, 2020
With these coin tosses carrying so much political weight, it would seem that a party obsessed with election integrity could at least make the process fair and transparent.
Instead, Iowans are left with a mish-mash of questionable coin flips and a growing distrust of the Democratic Party.
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